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“This was a very challenging year for farmers,” Pearsall said at the outset, as pandemic-related supply chain disruptions caused problems for many established farmers.

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The seminar was the last in a series this year devoted to creative marketing and agritourism, moderated by Middlesex County Ag Extension Agent William Hlubik. He detailed the stories of Duchess Farms and Moonshot Farm in his presentation at this year’s Vegetable Growers’ Association of New Jersey Conference, held online Feb. Marriott earlier this week launched the hospitality industry’s first media network.How two small farms in Middlesex County coped with 2020’s multi-pronged challenges was the subject of a presentation by Brendon Pearsall, who works with Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s Younger Farmers Assistance Program. Other categories are now chasing the same successes retailers have seen. Brands are flocking to the concept as they contend with the deprecation of third-party cookies - a key method of ad-targeting - and try to align their marketing messages closer to the point of sale using first-party shopper data. The digital ad market has had an impressive run of growth that’s been bolstered, in part, by the retail media explosion. But Target has its own retail media network called Roundel that theoretically could vie for the same brands Ulta is chasing. The beauty brand operates hundreds of shop-in-shops at the big-box chain, a tie-up that has been a boon during a highly volatile period for the retail business. Ulta’s more concentrated push into the space is also interesting given its relationship with Target. “Sephora is embarking on the development and launch of its own retail media network: creating new value exchanges for our brand partners and accelerating ad monetization growth on our owned platforms,” the posting read. Sephora, a rival, was hiring for a senior director to help spearhead its retail media network initiatives earlier this year, per a job listings page. Retail media in the beauty category could get more competitive soon. Display and sponsored product listings are the most popular ad types in retail media, but Ulta is trotting out some offerings that could be of particular interest to those in beauty, such as ones related to influencer marketing. Ulta started running on-site display inventory on its owned properties earlier this year, for example, and plans to introduce additional formats in the future. UB Media seeks to expand and enrich the company’s advertising suite to recognize the current omnichannel environment. Prior to the formal UB Media announcement, Ulta had a marketing program called the Digital Marketing Partner Program. Rosso has been at Ulta helping oversee UB Media since October, according to his LinkedIn profile. “Our new offering reinforces our ability to engage guests where, when, and how they want to connect, with hyper-focused advertising efforts in a dynamic ecosystem and further elevates our position as brand partner of choice.” “No one knows the beauty industry and its audience like Ulta Beauty,” said Brent Rosso, vice president of UB Media, in a press statement. Ulta is leaning into its scale as the largest beauty retailer in the U.S., with a focus on a rewards program carrying tens of millions of consumer profiles that could help marketers better target their campaigns. As these networks proliferate, retailers need to devise distinctive pitches to win over brands that face no shortage of options. Ulta is stepping up its efforts in the race for retail media dollars with the establishment of UB Media.

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